Rumsas Jr, the son of Lithuanian former professional Raimondas Rumsas, was provisionally suspended in October after the growth hormone-releasing peptide was detected in an out-of-competition test carried out at his home in Tuscany on September 4.
This week the Italian anti-doping agency decided on a four-year ban. Although, officially effective as of Tuesday January 23, it takes into account the provisional suspension already served and so the ban will run until October 22, 2021.
The 23-year-old has also been fined €378 to cover the costs of the procedure.
Rumsas Jr raced for the successful Team Soligo Amaru' Palazzago Sirio, managed by Olivano Locatelli, which has former Saeco professional Salvatore Commesso as a directeur sportif. Upon news of the initial suspension, the team moved quickly to distance themselves from the case, claiming that Rumsas had raced autonomously since the summer.
The sanction is the latest chapter in a sorry story surrounding the Rumsas family.
Rumsas senior served a ban himself after testing positive for EPO at the 2003 Giro d'Italia, while he and his wife Edita were both given suspended prison sentences in 2006 after she was arrested with a vehicle full of drugs on her way home from the 2002 Tour de France, where Raimondas had finished third.
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Tragedy struck the family in May last year when the Rumsas' other son, Linas, died suddenly. The 21-year-old was found unconscious at home, and Italian police continue to investigate his death, suspecting a link to doping products or illegal use of medicines. However full results of an autopsy have still to be confirmed.
According to reports in Italy, medicines, insulin, painkillers, syringes and other unlabelled drugs were discovered by police during a search of the Rumsas home near Lucca in early September, in that of a sponsor's house, and Raimondas Rumas Jr's car. He was obliged to under go an anti-doping test as part of the investigation which lead to his positive test.
A total of five people are said to be under investigation for the distribution of doping products, dealing in stolen goods and violating the anti-doping law.
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